The Philippine National Railways (PNR) and the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) are literally back on track after encountering problems that forced a one-day suspension of their operations
In an advisory, the PNR said its Tutuban-Alabang, Bicutan, Biñan, and route has resumed after technical crews put the train back on the rail. The train was derailed on Wednesday at the Magsaysay Crossing near the Santa Mesa station.
“Naibalik ang normal operations bandang 8:00 ng umaga matapos ang re-railment at testing (Normal operations resumed at about 8 a.m. after re-railment and testing),” the PNR said in a statement.
The accident was attributed to the softening of the earth beneath the rails in Magsaysay Crossing caused by the former Severe Tropical Storm Paeng and several days of rain.
“The PNR immediately performed re-railment by placing ballasts in the affected rails),” the state-run corporation said.
The incident affected six routes—four headed towards Alabang, Bicutan, and Biñan, and two headed to Tutuban.
On the other hand, MRT-3 train operations were suspended at 5:12 a.m. yesterday after an “abnormal signaling indication” occurred along Shaw Boulevard Station.
“All trains were stopped at the nearest station as a precautionary measure as technicians troubleshoot the issue,” the MRT-3 said in an advisory.
It said “full and normal operations” resumed at 6:58 a.m. after the MRT-3 Control Center reported normal indications on the signaling system.
A total of 3,615 passengers were reported to have been affected by the temporary suspension based on the automatic fare collection system of the MRT-3.
At 2 p.m., 15 three-car CKD trains were operational and 14 were running at the MRT-3 with a headway, or time between trains, of five to six minutes.
